Chief Justice Roderick Ireland to retire in July

Monday

Mar 3, 2014 at 4:29 PMMar 4, 2014 at 3:30 PM

The head of the state supreme court will retire in July, giving Gov. Deval Patrick six months to replace him before he leaves office.

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland plans to step down in July, giving Gov. Deval Patrick several months to secure a successor atop the high court before the governor leaves office at the end of the year.

Ireland is set to turn 70 - the mandatory retirement age for judges - on Dec. 3. He plans to step down on July 25, according to a letter from Ireland to Patrick that was released on Monday.

“As you know, I am fast approaching mandatory retirement and will reach age 70 before the end of this year,” Ireland wrote. “Understanding the critical work of my Court and wishing to facilitate a smooth transition for my successor, I have decided to step down before the new term begins in September.”

A Springfield native, Ireland began his legal career in 1969 and has been a jurist for nearly 37 years, beginning on the Juvenile Court in 1977. Ireland was appointed to the state’s highest court by Gov. William Weld in 1997, and appointed chief justice by Gov. Patrick in 2010.

“One of the assignments of the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, as you know, is to be the leader of the third branch of government. And that means managing the courts, encouraging and strengthening the courts, and I think he has a deep record there,” Patrick told reporters on his way into a meeting with legislative leadership Monday. “I think the morale in the court system and the sense by litigants that they have been heard and fairly treated is very, very strong right now, and I think that’s about Justice Ireland.”

Stepping down over the summer will provide Patrick with additional time to nominate a new chief justice, who would then go before the eight-member elected Governor’s Council for a confirmation hearing and a vote.

In picking a new chief justice and getting the nominee through the council, Patrick said he’s not taking anything for granted. The chief justice “in addition to being a strong legal intellect needs to be a person who can administer the third branch of government,” Patrick said after meeting with legislative leaders.

Patrick told the News Service he’s going to enact the same process he used when Ireland was tapped to replace Margaret Marshall in 2010.

A “small committee” made up of the Judicial Nominating Committee, Patrick’s chief legal counsel Kate Cook and former JNC chair Lisa Goodheart will guide the nomination process, Patrick said.

The governor will ask all the members of the JNC to submit candidates “and we’ll try to do this on an expedited basis,” Patrick told the News Service.

When asked if he’d pick from the existing bench or look beyond the current crop of judges to fill the slot, Patrick said there are “no limits” to his choice.

“I want to see what sort of pool we have and I’ll pick the very best person,” Patrick said.

Martin Healey, the chief operating officer and legal counsel to the Massachusetts Bar Association, said that regardless of whether Patrick promotes an associate justice to chief or picks from outside the court he will have had a rare opportunity in his two terms to shape the direction of the SJC.

“No other Massachusetts governor has had the opportunity to leave such an indelible imprint on the judicial branch’s highest court,” Healey said.

Patrick has already appointed four of the court’s seven justices, including Justices Ralph Gants, Barbara Lenk, Margot Botsford and Fernande Duffly.

Since Patrick promoted Ireland, Healey credited the chief justice with partnering with House Speaker Robert DeLeo to enact court reforms that he said may not have happened under another chief, for forging relationships with lawmakers and for expanding the use of specialty courts like drug and veterans courts.

Healey said Gants is considered by some within the bar as the “frontrunner” to become chief, though he added that he would not discount the chances of Patrick promoting Duffly, who is the first Asian-American on the highest court, or Lenk, the first openly gay member of the SJC.

There is speculation in some legal circles that former interim U.S. Sen. Mo Cowan could be picked for the court, Healey said.

“The governor obviously doesn’t want a court without an African American presence on it and in this day and age I don’t think this governor would stand for that, or the legal community, and you may see him pick someone from the African-American community as the next chief,” Healey said, predicting that a Cowan selection would be welcomed by the other branches of government and respected within the legal community.

Ireland’s bench mates applauded his service.

"In four years, he's done a remarkable amount," Lenk said of the chief justice, who presided over a hearing Monday where the Lexington School Committee was attempting to overturn an arbitration award in the case of a teacher’s firing.

"He's a wonderful man. I'm sorry to lose him,” Gants told the News Service before joining his colleagues in the court's chambers at the John Adams Court House. Associate Justice Duffly said Ireland is "such a really, really lovely man."

Approached by the News Service after a budget hearing in Fitchburg in February, Ireland said he had not yet decided when he would step down.

Ireland was nominated to fill the vacancy of former Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who retired early to care for her dying husband, Anthony Lewis.

“Chief Justice Ireland has been an effective, compassionate and wise leader of the Massachusetts courts," Patrick said in a statement. “The Chief Justice brought to his post a genuine concern for every litigant and every member of the court family. His sharp intellect, sound judgment and proven fairness set just the right tone. I thank him for his exceptional service and wish him well in his well-earned retirement.”

Under Ireland’s tenure, the court ruled individuals convicted of first degree murder committed under the age of 17 cannot be sentenced to life without parole, and ruled unconstitutional a legislative plan to remove documented immigrants from the state’s subsidized insurance program.

The first African-American SJC justice and the first African-American SJC chief justice, Ireland rose from the Boston Juvenile Court in 1977, to the Appeals Court in 1990. He was confirmed as the new chief justice unanimously by the Governor’s Council, and sworn in Dec. 20, 2010.

It does not appear Patrick will need to wait for Ireland’s departure to nominate his potential successor. An opinion by Henry Attwill, an early 20th century attorney general, found prospective appointments to fill anticipated vacancies are permissible, with the purpose of that policy to “prevent hiatuses.”

Ireland served as chief justice during a period of budgetary restraints and a transition to a different management scheme with a judge and court administrator overseeing the system. Trial Court staffing declined from 7,629 in January 2007 to 6,322 in January 2014, and in 2011, Ireland urged Patrick to halt judicial appointments, arguing the court did not have the resources to handle new judges.

As the state’s economy has risen out of the Great Recession, Ireland pushed for higher judicial salaries to encourage lawyers to seek the robes. Last year, lawmakers raised salaries for judges and magistrates, with the higher pay going into effect in two installments, this July and next year.